Drew Dixon
A powerful cold front draping much of America from the Midwest to the Eastern Seaboard was plowing through Florida Sunday, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches in several North Florida counties.
It’s not clear how the weather system will impact the Daytona 500 race, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. President Donald Trump will also attend the race. The National Weather Service (NWS) office at Jacksonville International Airport calls for rain to fall as far south as Daytona along Florida’s peninsula.
Meanwhile, the Panhandle area got hit with heavy rains and winds Sunday morning well into 9 a.m. The NWS office in Tallahassee issued severe thunderstorm warnings for much of the Panhandle. Tornado watches were issued for portions of at least seven counties along the Gulf Coast and inland areas near the state line with Georgia.
“Severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near Douglas to near Moody Air Force Base, moving east at 45 mph,” the NWS Tallahassee office said in an update at about 8:40 a.m.
With the front moving fast, the state’s Northeast Florida corner braced for significant impacts from the swift-moving cold front.
“Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways,” the NWS in Jacksonville said in a warning posted just before 9 a.m. Sunday.
The rough weather comes amid perhaps the biggest annual sporting event each year in Florida, the Daytona 500. As of morning, the severe thunderstorm watches did not stretch as far south as Daytona, though counties just north of Volusia were in areas of note for forecasters. NWS high wind advisories stretched as far south as Flagler County, neighbors Volusia to the North.
There were reports that Trump was supposed to drive the presidential limousine on the Daytona 500 race track before the race began.
